Nigeria, for example, where the governments have chosen English as the main language to carry on the affairs of government, education, commerce, the media, and the legal system. (76) In such cases, people have to learn English if they want to get success in life. (77) They have their mother-tongue to begin with and they start learning English, in school or in the street, at an early age. For them, in due course, English will become a language to fall back on – when their mother-tongue proves to be inadequate for communication – talking to people from a different background, for example, or to people from outside the country. For them, English becomes their “second” language.
In 1985, the population of India was estimated to be 769 million. English is an official language here, alongside Hindi. (78) Several other languages have special status in their own regions, but English is the language of the legal system; it is a major language in Parliament; and it is a preferred language in the universities and in the all-India competitive exams for senior posts in such fields as the civil service and engineering. Some 3,000 English newspapers are published throughout the country. There is thus great reason to learn to use the language well. In real terms, (79) the English speakers of India may only number 70 million – a small amount compared with the total population. On the other hand, this figure is well in excess of the population in Britain. When all the estimates for second-language use around the world are added up, we reach a figure of around 300 million speakers – about as many as the total of mother-tongue users. But we have to remember that most of these countries are in parts of the world (Africa, Sough America) where the population increase is four times as great as that found in mother-tongue countries. (80) If present trends continue, within a generation mother-tongue English use will have been left far behind.
Part VI Translation from Chinese into English 81. 为了保护环境，我们必须减少各种污染。
82. 请多穿些衣服，因为恐怕天气会变冷。
83. 一个大学生应该知道如何关闭计算机。
84. 你什么时候来这里的？其实你不必亲自来看望我。
85. 连接两个港口城市的高速公路是上个月建成的。
9
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